Six Teenagers Survived Over a Year on a Deserted Island

BONUS CASTAWAY FACTS 🏝️🔥 (long read but worth it!) • The six boys were students at a boarding school in Tonga who were simply BORED and wanted an adventure. • They stole a roughly 24-foot boat and originally planned to sail all the way to Fiji. • Their preparation was spectacularly bad. They took very little food or water, then a storm destroyed their sail and rudder almost immediately. • They drifted at sea for around EIGHT DAYS before finally reaching the uninhabited island of ʻAta. • Their families eventually assumed they were dead. FUNERALS were held for them while they were still alive on the island. • The boys organized themselves into teams of two and created a strict schedule for gardening, cooking and keeping watch. • When arguments got too heated, they would deliberately separate, cool down, then come back together later. • Their days began and ended with SONG and PRAYER. • They built an actual food garden, chicken pens, rainwater storage, a hut, a gym and even a BADMINTON COURT. • Kolo built their homemade guitar from driftwood, half a coconut shell and six metal wires salvaged from the wrecked boat. • Their fire became incredibly important. Once they finally got one going, they guarded it so carefully that it reportedly stayed burning for MORE THAN A YEAR. • One of the boys, Stephen, fell from a cliff and BROKE HIS LEG. • The others climbed down, carried him back up, splinted the leg using sticks and leaves, did his chores and brought him food while he recovered. • When they were finally rescued, a doctor examined Stephen and was reportedly amazed that the leg had healed so well. • They survived on fish, coconuts, birds and eggs at first. Later they discovered wild bananas, taro and chickens growing around the ruins of an old settlement. • Australian sailor Peter Warner discovered them in September 1966 after noticing signs of FIRE on an island that was supposed to be uninhabited.